NEW YORK, NY.- Sothebys first sale of Contemporary Art of the season brought a strong total of $12,277,564, well within the $9.736/13.759 million pre-sale estimate. Highlights of the sale were the 1986 Untitled by Gerhard Richter, which more than doubled the high estimate of $350,000 to realize $842,500 (pictured above), and Window Sketch by Frank Stella which surpassed its high estimate to sell for $578,500.

Erica Barrish, Vice President of Sothebys Fine Arts Department, says: We are thrilled with the results of Fridays sale with almost 90% of lots selling at or above their pre-sale estimate and with an amazing performance by abstract expressionists. There was great international participation and very active bidding throughout the day. With this sale of Untitled by Richter, Sothebys currently holds the top five sales of his works on paper globally, and this work was the second highest result for Richter on paper to date. We had a wonderful result for Mark Grotjahns Untitled (Blue Butterfly), and Wade Guytons Untitled performed strong, leading up to his October retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art. We set a world record for Charline von Heyl with Blue Rider selling for $80,500, four times its high estimate.

The sale included Mark Grotjahns elegant 2001 composition, Untitled (Blue Butterfly) which exceeded its high estimate and sold for $554,500 (pictured below). This piece is one of the earliest and most significant breakthroughs for the artist. Other works that achieved strong results include Albert Oehlens Untitled (1), a stunning monochromatic painting from his important black and white Computer Paintings, which fetched $434,500. A further highlight of the sale was Hiroshi Sugimotos 1992 Red Sea which brought $332,500.